The Salem Witch Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Though Good and Osborn denied their guilt, Tituba confessed. Likely seeking to save herself from certain conviction by acting as an informer, she claimed there were other witches acting alongside her in service of the devil against the Puritans. As hysteria spread through the community and beyond into the rest of Massachusetts, a number of others were accused, including Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse–both regarded as upstanding members of church and community–and the four-year-old

When the girls were adressed after Betty wasn’t waking up, because she was frightened of getting in trouble for being in the woods, Reverend Parris makes Tituba “confess [herself] or [he’ll] take [her] out and whip [her] to death” (Miller 44). To protect herself after realizing she has no other choice since nobody would believe what she says either way, Tituba lies to the Parris’ and Mr. Hale and says that she saw Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn associating with the devil, as these were the two of the names Mrs. Putnam had suggested after her seven children died in their care consequently after she says this the rest of the girls all start naming random individuals whom they claimed to have “seen with the

Once Tituba walks in, Abigail immediately points to her and says “She made me do it! She made Betty do it! She makes me drink blood!” (Miller 43). This is when hysteria begins; when Reverend Hale triggers a reaction from Abigail and causing her to falsely accuse Tituba of forcing her to do the things that might show signs of witchcraft.

I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Pg.48) I presume that Tituba confessed herself to being involved with witchcraft

Hale looks at this as a slight confession, which makes him think he is heading in the right direction. He then turns his attention towards Tituba and repeatedly asks her questions until she has no choice but to confess to working for the Devil. Instead of looking at all the evidence, Hale continues to make conclusions so he can prove his expertise in Demonic Arts. Wanting answers, Hale simply asks, “Who came to you with the Devil?” (Miller 1262).

Tituba is a woman from Barbados who practices what the Puritans view as, “black magic.” Of course, she mainly implements this because the conniving Abigail Williams who manipulates her into summoning it. But when Reverend Hale finds out all that Tituba knows, he relies on her to speak the truth. “Hale, with rising exaltation: You are God’s instrument put in our hands to discover the Devil’s agents among us. You are selected, Tituba, you are chosen to help us cleanse our village.

To begin, it is a popular belief that Tituba, a slave in the story, was justified in her confession to witchcraft in order to save her own life. After the girls of Salem peg Tituba as the culprit for corrupting their souls and torturing them, she is interrogated and accused by characters such as the esteemed Reverend Hale and town’s Reverend, Mr. Parris. Finally, Parris exclaims, “ You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!” (1.941-942). Tituba instantly confesses, and saves herself from a terrible death.

She lies to herself when she says, “Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam 's dead sisters. And that is all.

Betty Parris’s great power throughout Act I can be seen by her ability to single handedly create chaos and hysteria within the town for her own personal gain. Her power can first be viewed after Susanna Walcott explains the possibility of a supernatural cause to Betty’s illness, leading Abigail to advise her Uncle about “the rumor of witchcraft [that] is all about: [She] thinks [he 'd] best go down and deny it [himself]. The parlor’s packed with people,sir” (10). This is the first hint that others in the town believe in the presence and of the beginnings of the hysteria that follows.

Who was the cause of the witchcraft in Salem in Aurthur Miller's play The Crucible? Tituba was the cause of the witchcraft because she was the one who first admitted to committing witchery. There were over two hundred people accused of witchery, twenty people were hanged. One person was truly guilty of the hangings and witch trials. I believe that they should keep Tituba in prison and pray for her, until they know that she is holy again or at least until she stops doing witchcraft.

Tituba, the slave of Reverend Parris, is the first to admit to dancing with the devil. Based on the background knowledge of the time, slaves were not considered part of the class system, so she was not valued as a community member. Tituba is conscious that she is in danger, “she is also very frightened because her slave sense has warned her that, as always, trouble in this house eventually lands on her back” (Miller, pg. 6). Tituba attempts to tell the truth about Abigail when she says, “You beg me to conjure! She beg me make charm” (Miller, pg. 44) but realizes that her word against Abigail will not stand.

Lastly, Tituba went into the stand. During questioning, she claimed that she did not hurt the children, but the Devil who resided in her, made her do so. Tituba then admitted to pinching Abagail and Betty in their sleep so they would fall under the evil hand. Tituba then claimed she met a man, the Devil himself, and he made her sign his book in her blood. She also proclaimed that the Devil himself came to Salem Village disguised as a black dog, a man, and a hog.

There are quite many unmarried women that accuse innocent people in The Crucible. For example, the antagonist Abigail is an orphan and unmarried girl; she occupies a low social status in the Puritan Salem. At the beginning, Parris said: “I have given you a home, child, I have put clothes upon your back” (Miller 11) and try to make her tell the truth by reminding her status in the society and the fact Parris is the one who raised her. Also, Parris tells her that she is “now seven month out of [Proctors’] house, and in all this time no other family has ever called for your service” (Miller 11). This quote suggests ever since Abigail is send out from the Proctors, no other family asks her to work, and this indicates that Abigail needs to work for the other family.

Everyone longs for success. They desire the acceptance and approval for following their moral compass, being rewarded, and being acknowledged. However, one cannot maintain success without a purposeful and achievable position of power. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller the power of society is bound upon a pronounced hierarchy. Men naturally are deemed as having higher status than women in society.

In order to save herself from extensive consequences when the society had found out about her eating of the chicken blood in the forest, she is forced to blame someone for her wrongdoing. With this, Tituba comes close to her death, as it is intolerable for any Puritan to take play in witchcraft or consult with the Devil. Abigail claims that Tituba always “comes to [her] while [she] sleep[s] [and that] she's always making [her] dream corruptions!” (44). Although this is untrue, the Devil is placed in a situation of crime, which raises his level of power, as he is the one who is known to force people into performing sinful acts when they are under his influence.